Just One Person
by Haayls
Summary: Torenia is a shy young girl who hated having the spotlight on her, that is until she faces death and no one is able to see her. Regretting her past wishes, Torenia yearns to have just one person notice her. (Quick oneshot originally written for a Radiata Stories contest on DeviantART but decided to add more onto it.)
1. Chapter 1

Radiata Castle was bustling more than usual as a tiny girl with chestnut coloured hair and a round face weaved through the crowd of grown-ups on her way to her class on one of the upper levels of the castle. She knew very little as to why the grown-ups were all so stressed. She had overheard bits and pieces of conversations talking about dragons, fairy creatures and "the end of all humanity".

Without any clue as to what any of this meant, the young 7-year old arrived at the classroom and took her seat in the back of the room. Ms. Marion, the schoolteacher slowly walked to the back of the classroom and knelt down to get eye-level with the girl. The girl made brief eye contact then quickly averted her eyes in shyness.

"Torenia, I know you're not a big fan of being in the spotlight, but I think it would be in your best interest if you sat near the front." Ms. Marion said warmly. Torenia said nothing. She just blushed and shook her head at the suggestion before Ms. Marion walked back up to the front of the room to begin class.

The boy who sat in front of Torenia turned around, poking her arm with his index finger. Knowing exactly what he wanted out of her, she ignored in hopes that he would eventually leave her alone.

"Hey! Psst! Hey!" the boy whispered quiet enough for Ms. Marion not to hear but loud enough to distract Torenia. Even still, she ignored him, but this didn't stop him from continuing to prod her. The girl finally snapped.

"Shut up and leave me alone!" Torenia shouted as she slammed her hands down on her desk. It wasn't soon after that when the spotlight was completely on her and she regretted making a spectacle of herself. "I mean uhh…" Torenia slouched in her seat, blushing. "…I'm sorry." The child got out of her seat and ran out of the classroom as Ms. Marion told her to come back.

She ran down the elegant halls of the castle, finally finding her way to a large window by the staircase where the other schoolchildren would gather after school. Pressing her face against the glass, tears cascaded down her cheeks as she wished to herself that she could be completely invisible so she wouldn't have to worry about her social awkwardness.

She looked up and out the window to see a bright yellow shaft of light in the distance. She could hear a rumbling in the distance that accompanied the light. At first, the light was faint, but it didn't take long before it illuminated the sky and before she could even comprehend just what was going on, she found herself swept up in the midst of a large explosion. She was surrounded by the great light for several seconds. Her skin was burning, she was gasping for oxygen that wasn't there and an intense pain flashed through her body as it was disintegrating into nothing. As intense as the pain was, it was seemingly short-lived as darkness ensued.

The small girl wriggled around, trying to figure out just where she was in the darkness that engulfed her but there was nothing, absolutely nothing. She felt around for walls. There were no walls. There was not even a floor beneath her feet. The girl was suspended in limbo and there was no escape from this nothingness. She called out for her mother and father but the only voice that replied was the echo of her own. In contrast to the bright light that had previously consumed her, the darkness was cold yet just as unwelcoming. A white light shone before her. However, she somehow did not feel threatened by this light as it came towards her.

Torenia suddenly found herself in a strange yet familiar place. It was a place that looked very similar to Radiata town but it was very futuristic to her. A few of the old buildings still stood but the rest were replaced with newer looking ones. She didn't expect to recognise any of the townspeople as the elite normally did not consort with them so the girl ran up to find Radiata Castle in hopes that she would find someone she recognised there.

As she ran, she somehow felt lighter and wandering around in the upper floors of the castle, Torenia had no luck in finding anybody she had even at least seen once before. They were all new faces to her. Even the guards had different uniforms.

As she didn't recognise anybody there, she was surprised that nobody had even bothered to glance at her. Tugging on the dress of a servant woman in an attempt to get her attention, Torenia shouted, "HEY!" but that did nothing to get the woman to notice her which was strange as everyone had seemed to notice her before whether she had wanted them to or not. After doing the same thing to similar adults in the castle without any luck, the little girl eventually resorted to running through the halls, screaming the loudest she had ever screamed but to her disappointment, nobody even looked.

What she had wished for had unfortunately come true and she would have given anything for just one person to notice her. With her back against the wall, Torenia slowly slid down and hunched over crying over all the questions plaguing her mind, "Where is everyone? Why is everything so different? Why won't anyone notice me?" The girl continued to cry over the loss of the life she had once known until she heard the soft voice of a young boy ask, "Are you alright?"


	2. Chapter 2

Torenia stared at the boy for a second then checked her surroundings in case he was talking to someone else. There was no one else around. Torenia tilted her head in confusion at the young boy and anticipated answering him.

"Can you understand me?" the boy reiterated.

"You can see me?" Torenia finally found her words.

The boy chuckled, "Yeah, I can see you, silly. You're a really loud crier, you know."

Torenia blushed and averted her eyes. She was beginning to doubt wanting to be noticed again.

"I've never seen you before. You're not from Radiata Castle, are you?" asked the boy.

"Of course I am! I'm the daughter of the great prime minister!" Torenia responded with offense.

The boy shook his head. "Not likely. The prime minister doesn't have any kids."

"What?"

"What's your name, anyway?" the boy asked.

"My name is…uhh…it's Torenia." She said nervously under her breath.

"I'm Jiorus. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi…"

Jiorus smiled, "You can look me in the eyes, you know."

Torenia didn't bother answering. She just stared at a painting of the bridge by Lupus Gate that had just recently been built in her time. Looking at the painting was much more bearable than looking at a pair of eyes staring back at her.

"Okay then…" Jiorus slowly stood up. "I have to get home or else mother will be mad at me."

Torenia shot her glance at Jiorus. "No, don't leave me! I don't know where my mommy and daddy are!"

"I can't miss dinner so I can't help you look right now but you can come with me to dinner if you wanna."

Torenia anticipated agreeing to meet Jiorus's family but it was better than wandering the halls aimlessly.

Torenia clung to Jiorus's arm as he entered the royal dining hall. Even as an elite, Torenia never had the privilege to eat in the royal dining hall so it made her extremely curious as to what kind of position his parents were in to be able to eat in such a place.

A man dressed in nice tuxedo greeted Jiorus and escorted him to the table. The man didn't see Torenia so she was not escorted and so she had to find her own seat right next to Jiorus.

"Is that your daddy?" Torenia whispered.

Jiorus laughed, "No, that's William. He's one of our butlers."

"'One' of your butlers?" Torenia's family never even had one.

A man and a woman dressed in the most spectacular of outfits sat on either end of the table. The woman wore a red velvet dress with more frills and bows than Torenia could count and her hair was golden blonde with a few hints of grey near her roots. The man whom Torenia assumed was her husband wore a long dark green velvet coat with gold buttons, his salt and pepper hair tied neatly back into red bow and topped with a golden crown decorated intensely with rubies that were cut at just the right angle so they gleamed as they refracted the light.

"Jiorus, dearest, where is your dinner attire?" the woman was cross.

"I dunno…" Jiorus replied sheepishly.

"It's just like you to lose your good coat that took so long for the servants to make! You really will be the end of me!"

"My love, I'm sure he'll get along just fine without it." the nicely dressed man said calmly, "I think he feels different parading around in such flamboyant attire when he attends class. You can't blame him for wanting to be just like the other children."

"'Just like the other children'?! Gabriel, are you hearing yourself right now?! This is our prince you're speaking of; not some common nose-picking little brat!"

"In order to raise a good leader, Abygail, is to allow him to consort with the very people he's ruling. A ruler who does not know his own people does not know his own country." King Gabriel addressed.

"And a ruler who plays too often in the mud becomes tainted!" Queen Abygail snapped.

"They always fight like this." Jiorus whispered to Torenia.

"Jiorus, whomever are you talking to?!" Queen Abygail interrogated.

"It's my friend, Torenia. I met her today in the hall."

The king and queen glanced over to the empty chair next to Jiorus and exchanged glances in worry.

"Jiorus, my son, there's no one there." King Gabriel said.

"Yes, there is! Can't you see her? She's got really pretty hair and a voice like a mouse!"

The parents were silent until the queen finally burst out in despair, "Oh! Mercy! He's gone daft!"

"Don't you see? She's wearing a green dress and her hair is in two red bows! Don't you see?"

"Son, I don't mean to break your sense of imagination but there is no one there." King Gabriel said.

"But father, you must look! Her eyes are the colour of dark chocolate! And her cheeks are a blush as roses, especially when you make her flustered!"

"Jiorus…"

"She doesn't talk much, really but she's extremely nice and I like her."

"JIORUS, I beg of you! Stop this before you give your mother a heart attack."

"You can talk, can't you, Torenia? Talk so they'll hear you!" Jiorus turned to the young girl, seeking her help but instead she shook her head and looked away. With all the commotion she was causing simply by existing, it wouldn't have felt right for her to speak up. Not now.

"William! William!" Queen Abygail cried out, "Send for the high priest of Olacion Order! I fear something has taken over my baby! MY BABY!" she shook the butler.

Torenia saw this as her cue to get out of her seat and leave. She figured she had caused enough trouble already.

The night, she sat near the window where she had first retreated that fateful day and watched all the people in the castle that she didn't recognise go about their daily lives. She even saw the Olacion priest in his long white robe walk up towards the fifth floor and come back down about an hour later. Feeling guilty about causing so much trouble for Jiorus and hoping that despite it all, they could still be friends, she curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

The next morning she attended class. To her convenience, it was in the same room as she remembered it. All the students were new faces and even the teacher was different. She still sat in the back, away from everyone.

She saw Jiorus walk in and sit near the front. This was motivation enough for her to get out of her seat and sit next to him in the front of the room.

"Psst! Hey! Jiorus!"

But Jiorus would not answer. Torenia began to feel discouraged and walked back to her original seat. She had tried many times through the course of the class to throw wads of paper at him to get his attention, but the wads just bounced right off of him. She even chimed his name out loud a few times because she knew he would be the only one who could hear her anyway.

Jiorus turned around the first couple of times she chimed but then would immediately turn back to the front when he would see it was her calling.

After class ended, Torenia caught up with him. "Hey, Jiorus!" Torenia began, "Why were you ignoring me?" She was angry and hurt. Jiorus didn't answer her. Instead he turned his back and started talking with the other children.

"I know you can hear me, Jiorus. I'm not dumb. I saw you turn around when I said your name in class." Torenia scowled. Jiorus continued to talk to the other children, but not to her. "Okay, I get it. You don't wanna look stupid for talking to me in front of others, right? I understand that…I guess." Torenia crossed her arms. Jiorus smiled at his friends and waved goodbye as he walked down the hall. Torenia followed him all the way until they reached his bedroom where they were all alone. Torenia decided that maybe now that nobody could see, he would talk to her.

"Okay, so what's up?" Torenia leaned against Jiorus' desk but rather than replying, he opened up his book and began to study.

"Look, I'm sorry for all that stuff last night. I…" Torenia started tearing up, "I don't know why I just make people…get so loud all the time." Jiorus furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lip. He wanted to look at her but he kept his eyes on the page. "JIORUS, I'M SORRY! Why aren't you talking to me?!"

"Mother and father…and the priest…they all said I'm not allowed to talk to you ever again. They said you're an evil spirit and you need to go back where you came from."

"But this is where I come from! This is my home! Or…it used to be…I don't know where I belong anymore."

Jiorus still didn't make eye contact with her, "They said that if I continue to talk to you, bad things will happen. If I talk to you, I'll be become bad, too. I don't wanna be bad."

"Jiorus, I don't think you're bad…and I'm not bad, either!"

"I'd like to think that…but the priest said that evil can hide in the most unsuspecting of places. People who seem good could just be using that as a way to grab hold of your soul and make you evil in time."

"You don't believe that, do you?"

Jiorus shook his head. "I don't know…but… I just know that…I can't talk to you anymore." He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Torenia."

And he didn't talk to her for decades after. He could see her and hear her, and even for some time, he could even feel her presence. But as time went on, he forgot about Torenia and eventually was no longer able to sense her. He grew up normal, like his parents wanted. He became a great leader with the gift to reach out to the people of his country and come to solutions by communicating and listening to what they had to say.

He once tried to seek out the young girl he had met as a child and see if he could get a second chance at communicating with her like he had with so many others. He wandered the halls late at night when it was silent just listened for her voice. But he was too old and too mature at heart to see her now. And so forever, there will always be just one person who he can't reach out to.


End file.
